Secretary of State’s Office sending staff member to Pueblo County to oversee ballot count

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- All eyes are on Pueblo County while election workers continue counting key ballots in the tight race for Colorado's Third Congressional District seat.

The race is extremely close between Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert and her Democratic challenger Adam Frisch. Thursday, the tide changed in favor of Boebert, as she took the lead over Frisch.

Still, the race is too close to call.

At 6 p.m., the Secretary of State's Office confirmed with KRDO that the office is sending a "staff member" to Pueblo Thursday night to oversee the rest of the ballot count.

When asked why someone was being sent, Ortiz said attorneys for both candidates have asked the Secretary of State's Office questions regarding the results of the race.

The state had already appointed an Election Supervisor for the Midterm Elections in Pueblo County. That supervisor, Teak Simonton, began monitoring decisions made and actions taken in Pueblo County related to the administration of the 2022 Midterm Elections.

According to the Secretary of State's Office, Simonton remained in Pueblo until Thursday morning. The state told KRDO the new staff member is not a new supervisor.

As of 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Ortiz said there are still roughly 5,000 ballots to still count.

The Clerk and Recorder's Office began Thursday by shifting through the 5,000 mail-in ballots and 1,800 in-person ballots.

According to Ortiz, they can't begin counting the mail-in ballots until all of them are opened.

Right now, Ortiz said he and his election workers are feeling the pressure of the country watching, but they're trying to block it out and continue working.

Ortiz said his team arrived at 7 a.m. and the election judges arrived at 9 a.m. He said they're not going to rush the count.

However, he said the election workers aren't going home until the count is finished.